Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.
Getting whipped 43 straight times by Notre Dame isn't the worst thing that could ever happen to a Navy man. Not as long as VH1 continues to show the Village People singing "In the Navy" on the deck of a destroyer in San Diego Harbor.
But when the left side of the Navy defense dropped the anchor on Notre Dame's Travis Thomas on the last play of the game, ending that long ... long ... long ... long ... losing streak against the Fighting Irish on Saturday, Napoleon McCallum was sitting in front of the TV set in his Green Valley living room, watching the game alone.
That was by design. If you're a Navy man, you don't invite your pals over to watch the Notre Dame game. The Navy may build a guy's character, but the chip and dip is a lot easier to swallow when the Middies are beating up on Lehigh.
McCallum, arguably the greatest running back Annapolis has ever produced, said his first thoughts after the game were reserved for former teammates - the ones who had tried and failed against Notre Dame as well as the one who took great delight in getting his goat.
"I wished I had been in a locker room somewhere with Tim Brown," he said of his former NFL teammate with the Raiders who had starred at Notre Dame - and reminded McCallum of it every time their alma maters got together on the football field.
Navy and Notre Dame have played every year since 1927, the longest uninterrupted intersectional series in college football. The Irish hold a 70-10-1 series edge, but there have been some close games, such as in 1984 when John Carney kicked a field goal with 14 seconds left to give Notre Dame an 18-17 victory that shouldn't have counted because the play clock had expired.
McCallum, director of community development for Las Vegas Sands Corp . and a member of the Las Vegas Bowl committee, was a two-time consensus All-American and Heisman Trophy candidate who set an NCAA record with 7,172 all-purpose yards at Navy.
"What I remember about those games," he said about playing Notre Dame, "is that they were always competitive. And that something crazy always happened at the end of the game.
"The luck of the Irish, I guess."
McCallum thought it was going to start raining four-leaf clovers all over again in the third overtime when a delayed pass interference call against Navy, which led 46-44, gave Notre Dame a second shot at a 2-point conversion.
But the Navy defense rose to the occasion, torpedoing the ensuing Notre Dame sweep as if it were the S.S. Minnow.
The shocking defeat lowered Notre Dame's record to 1-8. Although McHale's Navy would probably be a 3-point favorite against Charlie Weis' team, McCallum said that won't diminish his Navy's victory.
"Nobody remembers the record of the Notre Dame team that Roger beat," he said.
The last time Navy had beaten Notre Dame, Roger Staubach was its quarterback and John Kennedy its commander in chief. Navy won the 1963 game, 35-10. Notre Dame finished 2-7 that year and McCallum's right, nobody remembers.
"Notre Dame is one of the top college programs in the country and Navy beat them," McCallum said.
"When these guys go on to become presidents and chiefs of naval operations, they're gonna remember that they were part of the Navy team that broke a 43-game losing streak against Notre Dame.
"It's an awesome memory."
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